Build Experience and Review: The NASA Apollo Saturn V Lego Set 🐻🧰

As a rocketry and NASA enthusiast, I'm behooved to commemorate the Apollo 11 Moon Landing in some way... Mousie also says it's my turn to do a blog entry, so, allow me to take this opportunity to tell you about the time I built my Lego Saturn V.

For a while, I'd been trying to find the motivation to build my Saturn V, and my existential angst was at last sufficiently acute to 'launch' me into distractive action. After noting my particularly 'blue' mood that day, Mousie also encouraged me to engage in some ‘fun plein air activity’. So, I dusted off the Saturn V Lego box and headed outside.

Indeed, it was 'meditative' assembling each of the Saturn V stages and modules, from the complex inner workings, to the detailed exterior paneling.

After a while, Mousie became concerned about the intensity of the afternoon sun and wrapped a bandana around my noggin to protect my delicate, aging furs. Here are some pics of me assembling and attaching the stage one paneling. And yes, I know. It does look like I'm wearing a diaper on my head.

The completed first stage.

By the time I finished the first stage, Teddy Yeti and Boo Bear dropped by, I’m assuming by Mousie’s invitation… The Saturn V really seemed to pique Boo Bear’s interest. Ever since the build, he's been obsessed with Lego, space, and basically anything that flies. Soon enough, Boo Bear wanted in on the action... as did the little buddies, for whom it is important, Mousie asserts, to be exposed to a vast array of educational experiences. I paraphrase. As you can see, the buddies got right in there for an up-close look of the second stage. (I think little little buddy must be napping in the second pic?)

Well into the evening, I was finally onto the third stage, and then, the Lunar, Service and Command Modules, along with the Launch Escape System. This Lego set did not leave me wanting.

And, at last, here I am posing with the final product... all one meter of it, LOL! I was pretty exhausted by the end. It was certainly a large, demanding project for a bear of my size. Note the extra bit of colour they added to the F-1 engines at the business end! 🤩

All in all, I was pretty impressed. The kit came with a detailed instruction manual, which included some great photos, a history of the Apollo 11 mission, as well as technical details about the Saturn V. 📖

This Lego set was a robust build. The different rocket stages detach fairly easily, revealing how the stages connect, along with some other cool details, including the J-2 engines of the second and third stages. Some nice little touches, indeed. 🐻👍

Logos were printed on, so there were no fiddly stickers or decals, which is a plus for me since they aren't exactly ideal to handle with paw fur. It should also be noted that there were 1969 pieces in the set -- very apropos, given the year of the Saturn V Moon Landing. 🧐

The set also came with a little Moon Lander AND Splashdown Module. Lego has recently made a larger version of the former, and of course, I was obliged to immediately order one... but you'll have to stay tuned for that...

Mousie's favourite pieces were the tiny 'space gong zais', as she calls them (Chinese?) who stand in their 'little white suits' with the Moon Lander.

As for today, Boo Bear and I are gonna reenact the 1969 Apollo 11 launch and moon landing together, using our completed Lego Saturn V while watching the historic CBS news coverage of the event. Both the build and model are certainly excellent teaching tools for the technically inclined, space-loving teddy bear. Not to mention, the box and instructions are definite keepers, for instructional and collectable purposes alike.

This particular build was a lot of fun to do. And, as Mousie exclaimed, 'it was exactly what the doctor ordered.' But, then again, I suppose anything on the theme of escaping this planet can have that effect on me. 🐻💙🚀